The Fry up Inspector: The Japanese Food Adventure Chapter 3

Kuraya served us another great breakfast this morning. Eggs, salad, fruit, pastries, coffee, toast and a homemade marmalade. We'd thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Gallery Inn and Kuraya had made us feel so welcome.

We'd arrived in Naoshima at Miyanoura Port but today we'd be leaving from Honmura Port. The boat would take us to Uno Port, the fare was ¥290 (£1.95) and the crossing took just twenty minutes.

We waited for the 7.55am ferry to arrive at the cloud shaped pavilion.

The museums and beauty of the island attracts many tourists, whose visits help support the local economy. However, it's Mitsubishi Materials that dominates industry on the island, as Naoshima has been the site of massive refining by Mitsubishi since 1917. As we left the island we passed the Northern side which is where the Mitsubishi plant is located.

From Uno we caught a train to Okoyama.

From Okayama we caught the Shinkansen to Kagoshima in Kyushu. Kagoshima is the Southernmost city on the Shinkansen network, the journey time was 3.5 hours.

Some iced coffee, a mochi ball and inarizuchi I bought for the journey.

Inarizuchi were my favourite snack find on this trip, they look quite bland but taste so good!

Our home for the next three nights was APA Hotel Chuo-Ekimae, close to Kagoshima station. A double room here cost ¥5850 (£40) per night.

There's a ferris wheel on top of the Amu Plaza, this I would have to go on at some point.

We crossed the Kotsuki River and made our way towards the port. We wanted to see the mighty Sakurajima, an active volcano which faces the city.

Behind this huge torii arch was Terukuni Shrine and behind that Shiroyama Park where we were heading for to get the best possible view of Sakurajima.

First though we decided to check out the Marchen Museum dedicated to fairy tales. It was housed in a circular stone tower and you could make your way to the top using the spiral slope around the edge. On the way round we passed fairy tale images on the walls which offered great photo opportunities if you stood in a specific spot.

As we left the museum we were just in time to watch the marionette clock perform.

Our first glimpse of Sakurajima from behind the Marchen Museum. We wanted an even better view though so we climbed the steep path to Shiroyama Park observation deck.

It was a long and tiring trek to the observation deck but the view from the top was stunning!

There was a shop at the top so I bought an ice cream.

Vanilla ice cream with a fruit layer encased in a soft pink wafer, a bit disappointing really.

This Shekwasha soda was delicious though and a bargain at just ¥100 (66p) for a giant can.

Like other cities in Japan, Kagoshima had plenty of huge shopping malls.

Sato-Chan and Muza-Chan, the mascots of Sato Pharmaceuticals can be spotted outside many pharmacies in Japan.

Daiso have 2800 stores across Japan and most things cost ¥100.

They stock a vast selection of items from stationary to chair socks.

I usually get drawn to the food section where they stock a huge selection of snacks and sweets.

If you need correction tape then Daiso will sort you out.

Trams run through the city from East to West.

We were tempted to eat in this area tonight but the prices were definitely aimed at tourists so we decided to give it a miss.

The ferris wheel displays a stunning light display at night time.

We bought some food and drink from a department store food hall and returned back to the hotel.

Rice topped with sliced beef in a sticky sauce, chicken katsu, battered squid, pork burger and spaghetti. A thoroughly enjoyable selection costing just ¥580 (£3.90)